


Hibernation Period

by goldenteaset



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Character Study, F/F, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route Spoilers, Literal Sleeping Together, Multi, Overworking, Polyamory, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 20:28:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20453081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenteaset/pseuds/goldenteaset
Summary: Post-Black Eagles route. Byleth still has issues with working herself to exhaustion, and unfortunately Hubert and Edelgard fare no better. Some nights, that has its merits.





	Hibernation Period

**Author's Note:**

> Hallo! Canon won't allow OT3s, so as usual fic will suffice. (Plus somehow I doubt Byleth's collapsing-from-exhaustion problem will stop occurring any time soon, given her work ethic! ^^;)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

For all that Edelgard might attempt to joke about Byleth’s “hibernation” habit, it still worries her half to death whenever her exhausted empress drops to the floor like a stone. Every dull _thud _feels like another year taken from Edelgard's already-short life. (Not that she’ll ever inform Byleth of such. No doubt her beloved already guesses.)

Even Hubert has complained to Byleth about these sudden slumbers, fretfulness barely hidden under his acid-tipped words. Unfortunately, Byleth is too used to him by now, and accepts them with only occasional bouts of annoyance. 

It seems that even as the goddess’ hold on Byleth has broken, certain things remain the same. Perhaps all the subterfuge with Those Who Slither in the Dark is exhausting her? That would be understandable. It feels like the experiments never end, no matter how often they're foiled.

And yet…progress is still being made. The flow of change is steady, if sometimes too small to see. By Hubert's reports, the "test subjects" are fewer each time; several have even found their families again. 

In any event—those subtle changes mean that Hubert, Edelgard and Byleth work themselves harder still.

This evening, Hubert carries Byleth into the Emperor’s chambers, looking like a ghost whisking a delicate woman into the night. (Not that _this_ woman is made of glass, of course. The image is still striking.) 

Brusquely twitching the four-poster bed's pale curtains aside, he sighs and practically pours Byleth onto the mattress. “She _insisted _she could eliminate the monsters herself. Foolish.” Even so, his lips curl upwards in understated affection.

Edelgard smiles at them both from her desk, cherishing this vision of her lovers and retainers by soft candlelight. “You shouldn’t overwork yourself either, Hubert. At least sit—please.”

“I couldn’t possibly,” he begins, only to stand down when Edelgard rises like a force of nature from her chair. “…If you insist.”

Byleth grunts as the mattress _creaks _beneath Hubert’s weight. “Huburr,” she slurs. Then softer still, “El…”

Edelgard's heart swells with unexpected delight. She didn’t know someone could smile in their sleep until she wedded Byleth. It always surprises her, the small tickle of lips curling against her shoulder half-felt in the mists of sleep. Sometimes even Hubert manages it. She hopes it’s catching. 

Hubert chuckles wryly, his arms folded across his chest. “She still frets over all of us…even in dreams. Perhaps one day she’ll remember she isn’t our Professor anymore.”

“Perhaps—but I would rather she never forgot.” Edelgard lets her voice soften.

“Mm. Yes, I suppose so.” Hubert tenses as if about to get up, only to reconsider. “Your Majesty, if I may—” He yawns behind his hand, the gesture almost too slow to maintain etiquette.

“—Yes,” she says, smoothing out her crimson skirts, “and I will join you. _No_, don’t be ridiculous; we are _alone_, no one will question your decorum.”

As if to reinforce the point, Byleth’s hand curls in Hubert’s coat, holding him there just as strongly as Edelgard’s will. She’s still asleep, but it’s obvious she wants company.

_And Company you shall have. _The bed is pleasantly firm under Edelgard’s side as she curls up beside her. Dreaming deep, her eyelashes flutter like a hummingbird's wings as it hunts for the perfect nectar.

“Excuse me.” Where once Hubert would have aimed a knife at Byleth's back, now he awkwardly nestles there, forever uncertain of how close he should be no matter how many years they've been lovers. Fortunately he’s too exhausted to worry about that this evening; he blinks slowly like a contented cat.

Byleth’s steady heartbeat matches Edelgard’s—a reminder of how much they’ve gained. Her body is alive with warmth, never faltering, ever wonderful.

Behind the thick red curtains, the violet and topaz dusk darkens to night’s deep sapphire. With winter on the horizon, rats and shadows alike seem to breed in the cold. In the past that darkness used to chill Edelgard to the bone—it would flow all the way to the dungeons where she was kept, smothering every light. 

But her world is different these days. Now, rather than cold for comfort, precious warmth surrounds her, grounding her with her beloveds’ quiet conviction.

Perhaps hibernation has its merits. They could do with nights like these more often. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :D Feedback is appreciated.


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